


They're Just Friends

by CardcaptorGhost



Series: Reibert 5 times +1 [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: 104th Training Corps - Freeform, 5 times +1, Bertolt spelt Bertholdt, Established Reiner Braun/Bertolt Hoover, Implied Armin Alert/Annie Leonhart, M/M, Minor Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:54:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25998574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CardcaptorGhost/pseuds/CardcaptorGhost
Summary: Five times the cadets of the 104th believed that Reiner and Bertholdt were close friends and one time they realised that they were something more.
Relationships: Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Reiner Braun/Bertolt Hoover
Series: Reibert 5 times +1 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1887007
Comments: 4
Kudos: 113





	1. 1

**1.**

Mina had always found Bertholdt as the most curious cadet of the 104th. His height and timid personality always make him overlooked as someone who was weak yet in hand-to-hand combat it showed that in fact it was the complete opposite. Reiner had said that he and Bertholdt had been childhood friends when they started training, yet Bertholdt always seemed to stand in the shadow of the bulky blonde cadet. When Bertholdt could in fact hold his own against his larger counterpart. 

Bertholdt was famous amongst the cadets for his awkward sleeping positions, which could (according to the boys) predict the weather. Mina had never seen it herself, hell Bertholdt always seemed to be the one who tried to keep Reiner awake first thing it the morning which made Mina stare in absolute wonder at Reiner and Bertholdt who had come into the mess hall holding hands, Bertholdt looked like he wasn’t even awake with Reiner gently pulling his best friend along to the buffet table to collect their breakfast before sitting down at an empty table to eat. Reiner was actively discussing something whilst Bertholdt looked at him dazed. Mina giggled to herself. Yep, Bertholdt was definitely not awake yet. 

“Reiner always seems to look after everyone, especially Bertholdt. He really is like a big brother to everyone” Hannah said, looking over at the older cadets. Mina hummed in agreement. When they started training roughly a year ago now, everyone had been so startled from the shift from a normal life to soldier one, whilst Reiner seemed to take everything in his stride and helped anyone who was struggling. 

“He is. Reiner seems to want to help everyone no matter the problem” Mina replied. When she was struggling with picking up some ODM movements Reiner had taken his time to help her get to grips with all the tricky turns. Using the ODM gear was different to balancing in the aptitude machines. If it hadn’t been for Reiner’s help and support, then she would have quit the cadets corps months ago. 

“He does. He lets me finish his food when he had leftovers,” Sasha pipped up. Mina laughed, trust Sasha to bring up food. “Huh talking about food, are you going to have that bread Mina”. 

Mina smiled before passing her bread over to Sasha, who wolfed it down in one before turning her attention to nicking Hannah’s. Mina let her eyes drifted back over to Reiner and Bertholdt to find that Reiner was still talking whilst Bertholdt was now resting his head on Reiner’s shoulder. 

‘Reiner really cares for his friends. I doubt any of the boys would let someone rest their heads on their shoulders, but with Reiner and Bertholdt it just looks natural. It must be nice to have a friend like that,’ Mina thought before turning her attention back to Hannah. However, if Mina had stared a few seconds longer, she would have seen Reiner give Bertholdt’s temple an affectionate kiss. 

* * *

**2.**

Not even a week later, Bertholdt stumbled into the mess hall and he looked irritated that all the other cadets were keeping out of his way. Bertholdt was always so calm and kind that seeing him like this was actually scary. It wasn’t until Reiner followed through the doors grinning like an idiot, Jean inspected Bertholdt to see what could have irritated him so much. That was when Jean noticed the dark red marks which litters the older boy’s neck. 

“Does Bertholdt have hickey on his neck” Jean gasped, squinting his eyes as if he were trying to get a better look. Connie started choking on the bread he had been eating whilst Marco just sighed. The others on their table heads whipped around to look at Bertholdt or specifically Bertholdt’s neck. 

“Huh, so he does” Ymir said a smirk was present on her face. 

“Do you think he got a girlfriend? I know he stares at Annie” Jean said, Bertholdt seemed to spend most of his time staring at her from a distance, Jean was sure he wasn’t the only person who had noticed Bertholdt’s staring. 

“If he was with Annie, wouldn’t she be the one with the hickeys?” Marco said. Everyone’s eyes moved to stare at the cold-hearted cadet, Jean squinted his eyes once more but he couldn’t see any marks on Annie’s neck but considering she was wearing a hoodie she could hide them. 

“Maybe he enjoys being marked. Marco and I give each other hickeys all the time” Jean said, pulling down the neck of his top to reveal the hickey which Marco had left on him that morning. 

“JEAN!” Marco shouted, his face turning red whilst the others just snickered at Marco’s obvious embarrassment.

“I hate to be the voice of reason but Annie was in the barracks with us all morning so it couldn’t be her” Mina pipped up, she had tried to get Annie to agree to hang out with them at breakfast but the blonde had outright refused. 

“Like I would date a sweaty idiot like Bertholdt” Annie snapped, making the whole table jump as no one had heard her approach. Annie seemed to give everyone a scowl (although Jean swore he saw her eyes soften when they landed on Armin) before storming out the mess hall. Jean felt himself relax and let out a sigh of relief when she left before turning back to the matter at hand - and that being the case of who gave Bertholdt hickeys. 

“So, if Bertholdt isn’t with Annie then that leaves us with the mystery question of who this secret girlfriend of Bertholdt is. I don’t know about you guys but I want to find out” Jean said, he got most people agreeing with him whilst Armin and Marco said that they didn’t want to intrude on Bertholdt’s relationship whilst Eren just pushed Jean and said he didn’t care. 

“Yeah! Leave it to me Jean! A genius like me can figure it out” Connie said proudly, Jean just rolled his eyes – they would never find out if they left it to Connie who didn’t even realise that Jean was dating Marco until he saw them make out in front of him. 

“You know they can hear you” Mikasa, who had stayed quiet from the most of it - finally spoke up. Jean felt his face flush as he looked over at Reiner and Bertholdt. Bertholdt looked like he had just run a marathon from the amount of sweat he was producing, whilst Reiner looked a little too pleased with himself. 

* * *

**3.**

Franz liked to believe that now he had been training as a cadet for over a year, now he had a good understanding of how the life of a soldier worked. However, it didn’t stop him from needing the occasional advice about relationships. He loved Hannah, he absolutely adored the red-headed girl, but she had been his first relationship and well… he didn’t know what to do to keep her happy or impressed with him. So, he had decided that he was best getting some advice from Reiner. Not that Franz knew whether Reiner was in a relationship, he just seemed like the guy who knew about these kinds of things. The last time Franz saw sight of Reiner, he was heading towards the barracks. So, it was the best place to start his search although Franz hoped that the barracks would be empty asides from Reiner because he knew the other boys would never let him live it down especially when both Hannah and himself wanted to keep their relationship private so whenever anyone asked about it they would both deny that they were in fact in said relationship. Reiner, Franz didn’t believe, would judge or make fun of him. 

The barracks, however, was as cramped as ever seeing as they had the rare afternoon off, and it seemed like all the boys had relaxed on their beds. Except for Jean and Eren, who were having one of their many arguments. Franz acted like he too was heading towards his bunk when in fact his eyes were searching the barracks for any sign of the bulky blonde man. He wasn’t talking to Connie or Marco; he wasn’t sitting in his bunk. Now Franz thought about it, Reiner was nowhere and neither was Bertholdt. Hell, those two were always together. 

“Where’s Reiner and Bertholdt?” Franz asked Armin, who was quietly reading a book. 

“He came in about half an hour ago said something to Bertholdt and then they left together” Armin replied, his eyes not leaving the page he was reading once. Franz internally groaned, Reiner and Bertholdt had some kind of reputation for disappearing and they still hadn’t figured out where they went and hell, most of the cadets had even tried to follow them whenever they went into the woods but Reiner and Bertholdt would ditch anyone who was trailing them fairly quickly. 

Franz sighed. He didn’t know what to do; he needed to find Reiner without attracting too much attention to himself, trying to leave after only just turning up. Luck must have been on his side because Connie spoke up. 

“Man, whose turn was it to follow Reiner and Bertholdt,” he said, looking over at Jean. 

“You Connie” Thomas bellowed. 

“What! No, I’m a genius, I’d remember when I’m on stalking duty” Connie said although he had a vague feeling that he remembered being told by Thomas earlier that day that he was to follow Reiner or Bertholdt if they tried to disappear. Everyone was still keen (well everyone apart from Marco, Annie and Armin) on discovering who this mysterious girlfriend of Bertholdt’s was, they had had no clues since Bertholdt seemed to act normal around everyone else but still he put some effect into making sure no one could follow him or Reiner whenever they disappeared. 

“How about I help you look Connie? Two sets of eyes are better than one” Franz said, this was his chance if he helps Connie find them or at least Reiner than when the others had left, he could ask his question. 

“Thanks Franz, I owe you” Connie said jumping up from his bed and headed towards the barracks door with Franz following behind him. It didn’t take long to find Reiner and Bertholdt as when they left the barracks, they saw the pair exiting the woods. Reiner was smirking whilst Bertholdt’s face was bright red. 

‘Maybe Reiner had caught Bertholdt with his mystery woman’ Franz thought to himself. Connie didn’t have the same opinion. 

“Wow, did you and Reiner get into a fight or something Bertl, your knees and arms are filthy” Connie said, and Franz felt himself freeze. Reiner and Bertholdt fighting, that was just as likely as Eren deciding he didn’t want to fight Titans. But Connie was right, Bertholdt’s arms and knees had dirt covering them whilst the rest of him looked spotless, maybe his clothes were a little rumpled but other than that he looked fine. 

“Haha yeah Connie we were sparing in the woods, Bertl accidentally fell into some mud” Reiner said laughing whilst Bertholdt seemed to turn an even darker shade of red and seemed to sweat, not like it was usual for Bertholdt, he was constantly sweating. Franz thought there was more to that story that what first meets the eye, the dirt seemed to conveniently placed as if Bertholdt had knelt in it with his head resting on his arms, but why would he do that. Honestly, Franz didn’t understand these two sometimes. 

* * *

**4.**

The case of who was Bertholdt’s mysterious girlfriend had run dry, the only person Bertholdt seemed to hang around with was Reiner, and now he was spending most of his time in the barracks. Yes, Bertholdt wasn’t talking to anyone apart from whenever anyone asked him something but since he was spending so much time around others that, the boys agreed that perhaps they had broken up and now Bertholdt was spending so much time here to stay away from them or at least give them their space.

Jean, Connie, Sasha and Marco were currently sitting in the shade trying to stay out of the overbearing sun. It didn’t matter whether or not they were inside the barracks. The heat felt like it was trying to burn Jean’s skin off. Even the makeshift fans Sasha and Marco had made were hardly helping. Instead, it was just blowing hot air back at them, making them even more uncomfortable.

“Um… did anyone else notice Bertholdt wearing a ring around his neck?” Connie blurted. He noticed it this morning when he went to ask Reiner a question, and Bertholdt was shirtless next to him. Connie had noticed the chain, then the ring. It had confused him since Bertholdt didn’t look like a person who would have any attachment to jewellery, but then again, the taller cadet always kept to himself. Speaking only really with Reiner.

“Yeah, I saw Bertholdt take it off when he had a shower, looked old” Marco replied. From what he saw of it, it was gold with some crest engraved onto it.

“Maybe a family ring? Bertl doesn’t talk much about them, only thing I could think of for him to wear it” Jean said resting his head on Marco’s lap much to his boyfriend irritation. It was already hot enough for Jean to use him as a headrest.

“What about Reiner? He would probably know about being childhood friends with Bertl,” Jean suggested. He couldn’t believe they were even talking about a stupid ring.

“Maybe there’s an embarrassing story behind it” Sasha said before wolfing down some food she had stolen from the kitchens.

“Like what” Jean asked, looking over at Sasha.

“Maybe when they were kids Reiner proposed to Bertholdt, and he kept the ring. Could you imagine Reiner giving him a ring made of food? I would want that… though it wouldn’t last long,” Sasha said with a hungry look on her face.

“Ew Sasha, a food ring definitely wouldn’t last long, maybe he used flowers? Made a ring out of that,” Connie guessed.

“What are you talking about?” Reiner said making Sasha, Connie and Jean jump. Reiner stood beside them shirtless with Bertholdt, who for some unknown reason was still wearing his jumper even though Connie could see that he was sweating like a pig.

“How you would propose?” Connie said without thinking before internally cursing. He didn’t mean to say that.

“As in the act or what you would say?” Reiner said raising an eyebrow at Connie who flushed from embarrassment.

“Sasha was talking about childhood proposals. Some jerk proposed to her with some food ring,” Jean lied. Sasha opened her mouth to protest, but Jean kept talking. Like hell he was going to let Sasha or Connie blurt out what they were really talking about. “Did you propose to anyone when you were a kid?”.

“Yeah to Bertl, I was six, Bertl was five I think. I say proposed it was more stated it to the bullies in my village. Bertl has always been timid and didn’t really put up a fight, so as you can guess it made him the prime target for bullies. I saw them and went charging in, not really caring whether I got hurt and gave the bullies a taste of their own medicine. When they ran off I remember shouting ‘never come after my bride again’ and that’s how I proposed,” Reiner said a small smile appeared on his face as he remembered one of his most treasured memories. On the other hand, Bertholdt’s cheeks were stained bright red, whether it was from embarrassment or some other emotion Jean wasn’t too sure. Maybe, Bertholdt being so young, didn’t remember that moment and felt embarrassed that Reiner had shared it with the other cadets.

“Anyway, Bertl and I have a date with a lake, so we’ll see you later. If we survive this god-awful heat,” Reiner said taking Bertholdt’s hand in his and disappeared into the forest.

“Wow, even as a kid Reiner was such a good friend” Jean muttered to himself. And it took all of Marco’s strength to stop himself from slapping his boyfriend. Marco loved Jean; he really did, but sometimes he really was an idiot.

* * *

**5.**

“They’re doing it again” Thomas said, as he looked over at Reiner and Bertholdt who were curled up together. Reiner was talking to Eren whilst Bertholdt cuddled up to Reiner’s side reading a book. Shadis had snapped at them saying it was lights out about half an hour ago, but only Franz, Nac and Mylius had fallen asleep. Bertholdt at some point had drifted off, but soon woke up in a sweat and settled for reading instead.

“Maybe they’re comforting each other from a nightmare” Jean suggested. It wasn’t uncommon for a cadet to wake up at night from a nightmare. Eren, Reiner, Bertholdt and Armin suffered with them since the fall of Wall Maria and the horrors they witnessed on that day. Hell, even Jean occasionally had nightmares about losing Marco to titans, watching paralyzed, unable to help him as a titan chomp down on his freckled face. After those horrid dreams, Jean always had to check on Marco to make sure his boyfriend was still alive and safe. Not that he would ever touch him, scared that if he did, then the illusion will break, and he would find himself sat in front of Marco’s corpse.

“You’re right, Reiner is such a great guy and friend, he’s probably looking out and comforting Bertholdt,” Thomas said. A look of awe appeared in his eyes, as if he was seeing Reiner in a whole new light.

“Have you ever considered that Reiner and Bertholdt are dating?” Marco said be it a bit reluctantly. He wasn’t expecting Jean to believe him, he was too stubborn like that. He wouldn’t believe anything unless it was right in front of him. 

“Impossible, I would have noticed. Reiner just looking after Bertholdt, I’m sure he would do the same if we were having nightmares” Jean said. The idea that Reiner and Bertholdt were in a relationship with no one else notices was just not possible, Jean was sure that he would have seen it if Reiner or Bertholdt had a crush on one another. Like he had said the other day, he had caught Bertholdt staring at Annie countless of times.

“Yeah, a genius like me would have seen that from a mile away” Connie said oblivious to the kiss Reiner had just placed on Bertholdt’s lips or how Reiner had shifted onto his side wrapping an arm around Bertholdt’s waist and pulled the taller boy close so Bertl’s back pressed against Reiner’s chest.

Marco just shared a look with Armin and sighed.

* * *

**+1.**

Connie swore it was an accident! During an ODM exercise Connie had turned around a tree but miscalculated when he shot his cables and lost his balance and to make things worse Bertholdt had suddenly come out of nowhere. Connie didn’t stand a chance. He slammed straight into the taller cadet, causing both of them to plummet to the ground. Connie getting a softer landing, that poor Bertholdt, that and one of Connie’s blade impaled Bertholdt’s leg. The sight of blood pouring from the wound made Connie want to pass out, he knew that he needed to do something but all the medical training he had seemed to disappear behind the pure panic Connie was feeling when he just took in the sight of Bertholdt. Minus the leg wound, the bone from his arm was sticking out at an angle and the prominent bruising on Bertholdt’s stomach could mean he has a broken rib. Connie really didn’t want to think about any internal injuries which Bertholdt might have from something broken or punctured. Just the sight alone made Connie want to throw up.

“Bertholdt” Reiner shouted landed beside the taller cadet and dropped to his knees.

“Reiner, it hurts” Bertholdt whimpered.

“It’s okay Baby, I’ve got you,” Reiner said trying to comfort his boyfriend by pressing a kiss to Bertl’s forehead. “We need to get you to the infirmary Bertl, but it will be easier for me to carry you if you don’t have your ODM gear on. I’m going to take it off as carefully as I can but if hurts please tell me. Okay”.

“I trust you” Bertholdt muttered through gritted teeth. By now they had slowly gathered an audience, most of their fellow cadets watching in horror as Reiner carefully removed Bertholdt’s ODM without moving the taller cadet that much.

“Let me help” Connie said, moving forward to assist Reiner. Reiner just glared at Connie and pushed the other boy backwards.

“You’ve done enough” Reiner snapped. Connie stared up in shock. He had never seen this side of Reiner before. The brawny cadet had always been calm and kind. He never seemed to get angry. But to see him like this was actually scary because Connie was sure that if looks could kill, then he would have been six feet under.

“It wasn’t his fault Rei” Bertholdt said, reaching out with his good hand to squeeze Reiner’s.

“Like hell Bertl!” Reiner said, “if he controlled his gear better and watched where he was going then you would never have gotten hurt”.

“Rei, you’re upset and you’re directing your anger at Connie. I’ll be fine I promise” Bertholdt said reaching up to grab Reiner’s shirt and pulled his boyfriend down to connect their lips together.

“I just hate seeing you hurt” Reiner whispered against Bertholdt’s lips.

“I know, baby”.

“WHAT ARE YOU MAGGOTS STARING AT! THIS ISN’T A FESTIVAL, GET YOUR ASSES BACK ON THE EXERCISE OR DO YOU WANT TO RUN LAPS UNTIL DAWN!” Commandant Shadis bellowed as he arrived on scene, most cadets took one last look at Reiner and Bertholdt before returning to their training whilst Shadis turned his attention to Connie who hadn’t moved from the spot Reiner had pushed him into “SPRINGER, IF YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE SIGHT OF A MINOR INJURY THEN YOU’RE IN THE WRONG PROFESSION! GET MOVING”.

Connie didn’t wait a second long before jumping to his feet and shot his cables off, not wanting to irritate Shadis any further.

“Braun take Hoover to the infirmary”. Reiner didn’t need to be told twice as he quickly yet carefully scooped his boyfriend into his arms after successfully removing his ODM gear and carted him off to the infirmary. Bertholdt rested his head on Reiner’s chest. Even though technically they didn’t need much medical assistance because of their advance healing abilities, Reiner knew that they needed someone to make sure Bertholdt didn’t have a more serious injury caused by one of his pre-existing one. That, and Bertholdt needed his arm being set back in place before it healed in the wrong position.

* * *

Everyone was anxious. Even Jean and Eren had stopped fighting. It had been three days since Bertholdt’s accident, and no one had seen them. Shadis has snapped how Reiner was excused from training until further notice when Mina had worked up the courage to ask and the nurses and doctors in the infirmary weren’t letting anyone in unless they had an injury which no one had. Hell, they had even turned the Goddess Christa away, who was genuinely worried about Bertholdt’s wellbeing.

Everyone was fearing the worse. No sign of Reiner to let them know how Bertholdt was. Everyone dreaded that his injuries were worse than they first imagined. Why else would Shadis excuse Reiner from training? Connie had taken Bertholdt and Reiner’s absence worse than anyone else. He was the reason Bertholdt got hurt. He had been losing so much sleep because of the nightmares of the accident that he was being plagued with. Of Reiner coming into the barracks, telling them that Bertholdt was dead or having the accident all over again. But this time, his blade didn’t pierce Bertholdt’s leg but his heart.

The only good news they had was from the cadets on kitchen duty who took two plates of food to the infirmary and when they went to collect the dirty dishes, both plates were empty. It had been the only confirmation that Bertholdt was still alive. But that didn’t stop the nightmares. Connie just stared up at the bunk above, lost in thought he didn’t hear the barracks door open.

“Reiner! Bertholdt!” some boys shouted causing Connie to snap out of his thoughts and stand up, hitting his head on the bunk above but paid little attention to the throbbing pain. Instead, he turned to look at the barrack’s door where Reiner stood with Bertholdt in his arms. For someone who was injured only three days, he looked well apart for the sling which encased his broken arm. If Connie hadn’t been the person to cause the accident, then just by looking at the dark circles’ underneath Reiner’s eyes and the amount of weight he had lost these last few days he might have believed that Reiner was the one who got hurt not Bertl.

“How are you feeling?” Armin asked, closing the book he was reading book and resting in beside him on his bunk.

“I’m fine” Bertholdt muttered, his cheeks flushing from the embarrassment at the sudden attention. He knew that facing his fellow cadets was inevitable, but he had hoped that they could sneak in and deal with all this in the morning, the last few days had been exhausting holding back his regenerative abilities whilst the nurses checks him over every day. Hell, even now he can’t heal himself because it would be too suspicious. They have asked him to return to the infirmary every day so the nurses can change his bandages and to check his leg wound wasn’t infected. For the first time since he became a titan shifter, Bertholdt really felt his own mortality being forced to heal at the rate of a normal person.

“Connie… I’m sorry. I snapped at you like that. Seeing Bertholdt injured it just brought back some terrible memories. If I said anything that hurt you then I’m sorry, I honestly didn’t mean it and it was all in the heat of the moment” Reiner apologised. The apology shocked Connie as he wasn’t expecting one after all it had been his fault, if he had watched where he was going then he wouldn’t have hit Bertholdt and they wouldn’t be in this situation. For the self-proclaimed genius that he was, he felt like a right, idiot. 

“Umm..” Connie said rubbing the back of his neck, he wasn’t sure what he was meant to say to that “thanks. I’m sorry I got you hurt Bertholdt”.

“No, it was an accident, it wasn’t your fault. And even if it was, you seem to beat yourself up about it. So how about we call it a truce?” Reiner said, and Connie nodded. Now he knew that Bertholdt was fine, they could put this accident in the past and move on.

“How come you got excused from training Reiner? Shadis hardly lets anyone off even if they were dying,” Thomas asked, curiosity laced his voice.

“Well, our situation is unique. Bertl and I are engaged so as his fiancé I have different rights then to if I was just his boyfriend. I have the right to be beside Bertl if he has serious injury just in case his condition worsen” Reiner admitted, although he didn’t want to think about what would have happened if Bertholdt’s injuries had been worse and if Reiner had lost him. His entire world would shatter. The couple watched as the jaws of their fellow cadets dropped as they slowly digested what Reiner had said.

“You’re engaged” multiple voice rang out. Reiner just grinned whilst Bertholdt lifted his left arm which wasn’t broken and showed them his engagement ring which Reiner had insisted he wear whilst he was off duty, it’s not like Shadis could tell him off for being engaged and the ring would not get trapped in his equipment if he wasn’t using it.

“So, Marco was right all along, you really are dating” Jean said a little shocked. It had been so obvious now he thought back on it, the hickeys on Bertholdt’s neck and the grin on Reiner’s face. Their constant disappearing and reappearing in a state, and the cuddling before and after they had gone to sleep. They’re dating, hell, they’re engaged. So why didn’t he see it. Was he that stupid, no, he wasn’t. The others hadn’t noticed either. Well, apart from Marco and maybe Armin. 

“I told you so” Marco couldn’t help but saying as he stood up from his bunk beside Jean and walked over to the engaged couple and handed over his and Armin’s money to Bertholdt.

“Thank you” Bertholdt said as he took the money. He wasn’t a betting man, but he was so glad he got talked into this.

“What” Eren said look extremely confused at the exchange.

“We had a bet on how long it would take until you realised that Reiner and Bertholdt are together. I said about a month, Reiner believed it would take a few weeks, Armin said it would take at least a year maybe even longer whilst Bertholdt had suggested that you wouldn’t figure it out unless Reiner or Bertholdt state it or did something couple like in front of you. Reiner called Bertl a pet name when he was injured, and they kissed. Now, they’ve just announced that they engaged. So, Bertholdt won the bet,” Marco explained.

Bertholdt felt the vibrations from Reiner’s laugh as they watched as Jean started whining that Marco should have given them more hints so they could figure it out on their own. Bertholdt looked up at his fiancé, who was staring down at him with a soft expression. Bertl smiled before reaching up with his good arm and pulled Reiner’s head down into a passionate kiss, his fingers entangled in Reiner’s short hair.

“I love you” Bertholdt muttered against Reiner’s lips.

“I love you too, Bertl”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I hope you liked this, the second chapter will be from Reiner and Bertholdt's perspective of this! I hope to get it out soon! 
> 
> All kudos and comments are really appreciated and help keep me motivated to write!


	2. 2

**1.**

Reiner found that this always the best part of his mornings, waking up with Bertholdt beside him and watching his boyfriend slowly arose from his slumber. The cute scrunch of his nose as Bertholdt stretched out after untangling himself from whatever strange position he had somehow got himself into before Bertholdt opened his eyes and turned to face Reiner.

“You know it’s rude to stare,” Bertholdt said, his voice laced with sleep. Reiner smiled as he brushed some hair off Bertholdt’s face and tucked it behind his ear.

“Good Morning,” Reiner said before leaning forward, pulling Bertholdt into a kiss, cupping his cheek as he slid his tongue into his boyfriend’s slightly parted lips.

“You have horrible morning breath” Bertholdt whined trying to push his boyfriend away, but he relented when Reiner pulled him in for another kiss, he had been with Reiner for years now so the smell of Reiner’s morning breath didn’t bother him as much as he had when they first started dating and Reiner would wake him up at the crack of dawn with a kiss.

“You love me really,” Reiner said, pressing another quick kiss to Bertholdt’s lips, “We better get up, everyone has already left for the mess hall. We have that ODM test today,”.

Reiner reluctantly pulled away from his boyfriend before climbing off their cots and started getting changed into his Cadet Corps uniform whilst Bertholdt just watched.

“I really do” Bertholdt muttered, drawing Reiner’s attention to him.

“Huh?” Reiner said a little confused but Bertholdt shook his head as he stood up walking over to his boyfriend wrapping his arms around Reiner’s neck.

“I love you,” Bertholdt said.

“I love you too,” Reiner said grinning as he reached up and pulled his taller boyfriend down to his height and pressed their lips together once more.

* * *

**2.**

Bertholdt groaned as Reiner started sucking the sensitive point on his neck. They knew they shouldn’t be doing this here. Reiner was practically onto of Bertholdt on their cots, if anyone walked in they would know exactly what they were doing, there was no way they could deny what was happening but that still didn’t stop Reiner from pushing his boyfriend down onto their cot after they finished getting dressed and started littering Bertholdt’s skin with hickey after hickey.

Bertholdt pushed Reiner off him, grabbing his corps jacket which fell to the floor, and darted into the conjoining bathroom to sort himself out – that’s when he saw it, the bright red hickeys which littered his neck, the same hickeys which poked out of the neck of his jacket for the world to see, those same hickeys which he couldn’t hide.

“The hell Reiner, you’re meant to be careful” Bertholdt snapped storming out the bathroom and pointed to the hickeys on his neck.

“Whoops sorry, Bertl,” Reiner said in a tone which told Bertholdt that he was definitely not sorry. Bertholdt just groaned as he walked out of the barracks and towards the mess hall. He was completely and utterly embarrassed. He can’t believe Reiner. He knew they had to be careful, he knew that they were keeping their relationship a secret, and yet he still littered Bertholdt’s neck with those offending hickeys that he couldn’t hide. One look at his neck and everyone could easily figure out what had happened and that would bound to lead to people figuring out who caused those hickeys, after all, Reiner was the only person Bertholdt spend a copious amount of time with plus when the others left the barracks Reiner was the only person who had stayed behind. If anyone really thought about it, it was obvious who had left the hickeys on his neck. 

Jean was the first person to notice, Jean was the first person to blurt it out to the entire mess hall, and now Bertholdt could feel everyone’s eyes turn to look at him, or rather his neck. Bertholdt tried to ignore it as he grabbed his food and sat down at his usual table, but he couldn’t. It felt like millions of eyes were now staring into his soul as he stared down at his breakfast – it was so embarrassing. He felt so embarrassed that Bertholdt wished he could shift and hide in his titan form just to get away from the prying eyes, but that would just open up another can of worms that he really didn’t want to deal with.

“Everyone’s talking about it” Bertholdt said, he could feel his cheeks heat, he didn’t like being the center of attention at the best of times but it felt worse now because he knew why everyone staring at him, it wasn’t to do with how tall he was or how he got into odd sleeping positions. Now everyone was staring at him visibly shocked that quiet Bertholdt who hardly spoke to people and spent most of his time glued to Reiner’s side. That same person who currently had hickeys on his neck.

“Aw is my Bertl embarrassed, you’re so cute” Reiner teased as he resisted the urge to press a hundred little kisses all over his adorable boyfriend’s face, the only reason stopping him was because there was in public and he knew that Bertholdt really wasn’t someone for public displays of affection especially when their fellow cadets had no idea that they were dating… yet that is.

“I hate you!” Bertholdt said glaring at his boyfriend smug grin, oh how he wanted to punch that grin off Reiner’s face but instead, he stood up and stormed out of the mess hall barely paying attention to where he was going and if he ran straight into Thomas sending the other cadet crashing to the floor and walked off without apologising, then that was something he could deal with later.

“I love you too, Bertl” Reiner practically sang as he chased after Bertholdt across the training grounds with the full intention of making another visible mark on the other side of his boyfriend’s neck.

* * *

**3.**

It’s a bad idea, it was always a bad idea. It was broad daylight, and they risked being discovered, but that didn’t stop Reiner from pulling Bertholdt into the forest to their spot, pushing his boyfriend to the ground. He knew he needed to be quiet, nearly biting through his lip as he felt Reiner roughly slide into his already abused hole, they didn’t have the luxury of taking their time it won’t be long until the other cadets noticed that they were missing and Bertholdt really didn’t want to be found in such a compromising position being on all fours with his shirt pushed up to give Reiner access to his nipples whilst his trousers and underwear was shoved down around his ankles.

Bertholdt let out a loud moan before cutting himself off by biting his arm. Reiner groaned as he felt his boyfriend tighten around his cock, he knew he was close as he reached down and wrapped his hand around Bertholdt’s cock and started stroking it in time with his thrusts. Bertholdt cried out as he came over Reiner’s hand. All his energy had left his body as he slumped forward. It didn’t take Reiner much longer before he came inside Bertholdt; he peppered kisses all over Bertholdt’s skin as he gently pulled out of his boyfriend. 

Reiner knew they couldn’t risk staying here any longer. They had already been gone far too long that it would have definitely attracted the other cadets’ attention; he didn’t really understand why they were so obsessed with finding out where he and Bertholdt disappeared too; he knew that after the hickey incident the other day that they were obsessed with finding out who had given Bertholdt a hickey; they suspected that Bertholdt had a girlfriend so Reiner was in the clear for now, not that Reiner was ashamed of their relationship, he just enjoyed keeping it to themselves, the only person who knew was obviously Annie since Reiner was dating Bertholdt back when they were warrior cadets and he was sure that Ymir, Armin, and Marco were suspicious but have yet to say anything. Not that he cared whether or not they said anything, his relationship was special, and he felt that if he dared reveal it to them, then the Eldian devils would taint the one pure thing in his life. And not being relentlessly teased or interrogated about it was a definite plus.

The couple quickly got dressed before Reiner pulled Bertholdt into his arms, wrapping them around his waist and pressing his lips against Bertholdt’s own, trying to express just how much he loved his boyfriend through this kiss.

“My trousers are stained” Bertholdt whined as he pulled away from his boyfriend and tried to brush the mud off his white trousers, honestly whoever thought it was a wise idea to have white trousers as the uniform for people working in the military was stupid since the number of times that his trousers were stained from getting them dirty during their training. 

“We’ll just say we were sparing, and you fell over or something like that,” Reiner reassured his boyfriend, pulling him into his arms once more, “stop worrying Bertl, everything will work out fine,”.

“I know it will Reiner, we’ll go home soon, it’s just… I guess being around our enemies constantly has put me more on edge. I just want to complete our mission and return home without the risk of losing you,” Bertholdt said. It had plagued his nightmares, the thought of losing Reiner to these Eldian devils. Returning home without his boyfriend being forced to face the rest of his brief life alone.

“I promise I’ll always protect you. I love you” Reiner whispered, pressing their foreheads together.

“I love you too” Bertholdt replied tilting his head slightly and pressed their lips together in another kiss.

* * *

**4.**

Bertholdt’s heart was in his throat as he watched his boyfriend get down on one knee after dragging him from the barracks and towards the nearby lake. Reiner had said nothing, instead, he entangled their fingers together as they walked through the forest to their destination before Reiner turned and kneeled pulling a red box from his pocket and opening it up revealing the silver ring, Bertholdt gasped. He recognised that ring; it was the Braun family ring baring their coat of arms from when their family had been well established in the Eldian Empire, when Marley took control they destroyed everything to do with the Eldian empire but the Braun family managed to hide the ring and passed it down the generations.

“Bertholdt Hoover, ever since I met you on that fateful day in Marley as we both trained to become warriors, the second my eyes landed on you I knew that you were someone special. You are amazing and talented at anything you do whether it’s shooting or your iron-clad control over your shifting. I honestly feel like the luckiest person alive being able to spend the rest of my life with you and I promise to take no day with you for granted and no matter what I will try to make you feel like the most special person on this planet because to me Bertholdt if I could I would give you the stars and the moon because you deserve nothing less. Bertholdt Hoover will you marry me,” Reiner said, pouring his heart and soul into his proposal. He wanted Bertholdt to know just exactly what he means to him.

“Yes, I’ll marry you,” Bertholdt said dropping to his knees wrapping his arms around Reiner’s neck and pulled his fiancé in for a passionate kiss, it was sloppy, it was messy but they didn’t care, they wanted to show each other just how much they loved each other by pouring everything they could into this kiss until they couldn’t breathe until they had to pull away grasping for air two identical grins stretched across their faces as Reiner took the ring out of its box and gently slide in onto Bertholdt’s finger.

“I can’t believe you brought your grandfather’s ring all the way from Marley just in case you were planning to propose,” Bertholdt said looking down at the ring then back up at his fiancé, god he could get used to that well that was until he traded it for a better title.

“Well, I’ve wanted to marry you since the day I met you, so I guess I had hoped that I would get the chance to. I know this island is full of devils but we’ve been stuck here for three years now and we might be here even longer, I want to make as many memories with you as I can before our time is up, and like I said. I’ve wanted to marry you for a long time now, and even though we are trapped here until we found the founder, I don’t want to waste any second that I’m with you. I want to look back on my life moments before I die and remember that I wasted no second and that I lived my life to the fullest with you,” Reiner said.

“God, Reiner you’re such a sap,” Bertholdt said bringing his fiancé’s face close to kiss him once more, “I love you, Reiner, god I love you so much”.

“I love you too Bertl, more than everything” Reiner whispered, bringing their lips together once more, silently sealing an unspoken vow and the start of the next chapter in their lives. 

* * *

**5.**

It no longer surprised Bertholdt that nightmares plagued his dreams, he all most welcomed them. They were a constant reminder of everything he had done; it was his fault that so many people died; he was the sole reason Eren’s mother and probably his father had died, if he hadn’t kicked a hole in Wall Maria then the titans wouldn’t have gotten into the Shiganshina district, if he hadn’t kicked a hole in the Wall then Reiner couldn’t breach the inner wall. Had the foundering titan revealed themselves, then Bertholdt wouldn’t have to take on his colossal form once more and kill more innocent people. They were innocent; they didn’t know about Marley; they didn’t know about what the Eldian Empire did to the Marleyans and the rest of the world; they didn’t know. The Eldians on Paradis Island believed that they were the last of humanity, they believed that titans had appeared one day and killed the rest of humanity when the rest escaped to live behind the walls; the Eldians didn’t even know their ability to turn into titans; they didn’t know that there was nine titans shifter with potentially four of them hidden inside the walls.

If he hadn’t breached the walls, then he would have killed his friends, killed his boyfriend. They had only barely reached the walls after losing Marcel there was no chance of returning to the ports without losing someone else and even if they made it, then Marley would kill them when they returned to the mainland; they had failed their mission; they had given in at the first sight of trouble, they wouldn’t be worthy of the titles of Warriors, they weren’t worthy of their titan powers and their families would be stripped from their status as honorary Marleyans had they not breached the walls.

But he had, he had breached the walls; he had killed thousands of people and he would again. In less than a year, the colossal titan would appear in front of the Trost district and breach the outer wall. He would kill comrade after comrade just to force the founding titan to reveal itself. He would kill comrade after comrade to give him a safe passage home to see his dying father once more, for Reiner to see his mother and his baby cousin Gabi and for Annie to see her adoptive father, he would kill thousands of innocent men, women, and children to save his own skin. The nightmares were always a warm welcome because they showed him the monstrous things he had done ever since he inherited his titan powers.

But that wasn’t the only reason he welcomed those dreams, he welcomed them because whenever he woke up startled from whatever horror his mind wanted to torture him with, Reiner would always be there to comfort him, kiss him and tell him that he was safe and Bertholdt would believe him, he would hold on to every word Reiner said, embracing them and making them his temporary reality until the next nightmare came to haunt him.

Just like tonight, they had spent the whole day training on the ODM gear, Bertholdt had practically collapsed into his bed not caring whether he was still in his cadet uniform, and drifted off to sleep (he would later be thankful that Reiner had the initiative to change him out of it when he was asleep, it wasn’t comfortable sleeping in his harness).

The nightmares started the same, Bertholdt was in his colossal form starting over Wall Maria the titans slowly flooded into the Shiganshina district chasing after all the humans trying to flee but this time he can’t escape his titan form, the tissue connecting him to his titan now held him hostage as he watched the titans devoured everyone in their path then the nightmare shifted; he was no longer in his titan form, Reiner, Annie and… Marcel was with him, they had just finished eating and were planning on setting off when suddenly a titan came out the earth its eyes set on Reiner and it was reaching for him, Bertholdt wanted to move, he wanted to push Reiner out the way but he was frozen to his spot; he looked over to Marcel silently begging for him to do something but Marcel didn’t; he stood there smirking as Reiner screamed for someone, for anyone to save him. Bertholdt watched in horror as the titan bit down on Reiner’s face, blood splattering hitting Bertholdt in the face. He looked at Marcel, willing him for an explanation. Why didn’t he save Reiner, he saved him before why not now?

“You didn’t save me the first time, so why should I save him,” Marcel… no, the monster impersonating Marcel said.

Bertholdt shot up nearly hitting his head on the cot above him, his heart was pounding in his chest as he turned to look for Reiner, he knew that it was a nightmare but that didn’t stop him from needing to see that Reiner was in fact still with him; he needs to know that Reiner was still alive. Reiner was next to him, sat on his own cot talking to Eren about the hand-to-hand combat the following day, Reiner barely spared Bertholdt a look when he curled up against his fiancé’s side, Reiner practically knew Bertholdt’s nightmares as well as he knew his own and they both knew that unless they were alone, they didn’t or couldn’t talk about them so instead Reiner wrapped his arm around Bertholdt as he continued talking. Sometimes for them, their actions were all they needed to comfort one another.

They stayed like that, settled in each other’s arms until the other cadets started to settle down for the night, Eren climbed into his cot beside Armin whilst Jean practically clamber over Marco to get to his own cot. Reiner pulled the book from Bertholdt’s hand, marked the page he was on before closing it and putting back on the shelves at the end of their cot then pressing a kiss against Bertholdt’s lips before he shifted onto his side wrapping an arm around Bertholdt’s waist and pulled the taller boy close.

“Night Bertl, I love you” Reiner whispered into Bertholdt’s ear, tightening his grip around his fiancé’s waist and pulled him flushed against his own body.

“Love you too” Bertholdt muttered underneath his breath as he snuggled closer into Reiner’s embrace and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

**+1.**

If anyone had to ask Reiner what he pictured when he thought of hell then it would be this, sitting beside Bertholdt’s bedside in the infirmary waiting for a change in his condition. After the accident, the other day he had rushed into the infirmary rattled off what had happened to the doctors and nurses as they quickly worked to stabilise Bertholdt’s condition. Being forced to wait outside with no news for nearly over an hour was torturous. He knew Bertholdt would survive; they were titan shifters for crying out loud; they were one of the best Eldian soldiers chosen to inherit these god-like powers and serve their country. A titan shifter could survive so much worse than these injuries, but that didn’t stop the sight of Bertholdt being burnt into the back of his mind. Seeing his beautiful fiancé bent and broken on the ground with Connie’s blade sticking out his leg was horrifying; it was why Reiner had been so harsh on the poor cadet. It brought back memories of another battlefield where they would be hurt if they didn’t succeed. They had forced Reiner to watch as the Marleyan soldiers attacked and beat up Bertholdt whenever he didn’t hit his mark. When Bertholdt had straight up refused to attack Reiner after they started dating. He needed to apologise to Connie when this was all over, but for now, all he could do was wait and wait.

That wait, that hour was the longest hour of his life waiting for someone, anyone to tell him what was going on inside the infirmary without him breaking the door down and finding out for himself and don’t get him wrong, he was tempted, he didn’t like being out of the loop on the condition of not only his fellow warrior that he was meant to protect but his fiancé, the man he was going to marry, the man that literally meant the entire world to him. But his sign never came, the doors remained shut, the only sound he could hear coming from inside was the sound of footsteps scurrying around barely stopping before they moved again, Reiner wasn’t sure whether he preferred the sound of movement or silence all together. The hour slowly ticked by before the infirmary door opened and a nurse stepped out.

“Cadet Braun, Cadet Hoover will be fine, his injuries have been stabilised, he has a broken arm, and a fractured leg, luckily the blade didn’t damage any nerves cells but we need to monitor the wound on his leg to make sure it won’t get infected,” the nurse said.

“Can I see him?” Reiner asked, after this accident he wasn’t planning on leaving Bertholdt’s side again, “You see Nurse, he’s my fiancé, you must understand I can’t just leave him like this and go back to training I know for certain I won’t be able to focus,”.

“I understand. I’ll talk with Commandant Shadis about giving you a pardon for the rest of this week’s training,” the nurse said, moving out the way of the infirmary door.

Reiner darted inside, heading straight towards the bed Bertholdt occupied. He felt his heart jump up into his throat at the sight of Bertholdt. His fiancé was pale with his right arm was encased in a sling and they wrapped his left leg in bandages which were already bloody. He took Bertholdt’s left hand in his, entangling their fingers together. Seeing Bertholdt like this just reminded him of the last time Bertholdt had gotten seriously injured that even with his regenerative capabilities, the doctors were worried that he wouldn’t survive. It had been the second time he transformed on the same day, and he didn’t have enough energy to form the titan properly that the nape was unprotected and Bertholdt just fell out to a sixty-meter drop. No one reacted fast enough to catch him and Bertholdt hit the ground shattering his arms, legs, ribs and so many other bones that Reiner didn’t even know had existed or could even be broken. Bertholdt had stayed in the infirmary for two months as his body struggled to heal itself, there had been so many days where it looked like he was going to give up and at one point their superiors were planning on passing the colossal titan down to another warrior candidate if Bertholdt didn’t show any improvement within the next couple of days. Reiner was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t notice the two brown eyes staring up at him.

“Reiner” Bertholdt croaked out, Reiner’s head shot up a grin spread across his cheeks.

“Bertl, you’re awake,” Reiner said, the feeling of relief flood through his body. Bertl was awake, his Bertholdt was awake. That was always a good thing.

“How bad are my injuries?” Bertholdt asked as he tried to strain his neck to look down at his body, but Reiner gently pushed his head back down on the pillow.

“Your right arm is broken, and your left leg is fractured. The doctors want to keep you in for the next couple of days to make sure your leg injury doesn’t become infected,” Reiner explained, squeezing Bertholdt’s hand.

“I’m sorry, Reiner” Bertholdt suddenly said.

“What for?” Reiner frowned, what the hell was Bertholdt sorry for, after all, he hadn’t caused the accident, he didn’t plan to get injured.

“For putting you through this again,” Bertholdt said, he hated being trapped in the infirmary beds unable to do anything but slowly heal but what was worse was seeing Reiner’s terrified face when he overheard that their superiors were planning on replacing him, they hadn’t been dating then but they were still close friends. Bertholdt had promised himself when he fully healed that he would never put Reiner through something like that again, he had been lucky this time because his injuries didn’t seem as severe but the situation was even more complicated, everyone knew about these injuries it wasn’t like he could sneak away and hide in the woods until he healed. He would have to heal like an ordinary person because they couldn’t risk the other cadets discovering that there was something different with him. He couldn’t risk their mission.

“I was so scared Bertholdt, I knew we have our regenerative abilities, but it terrified me that I would lose you. What if there was too much damage that your abilities couldn’t cope with or if the doctors did something which complicated your injuries even further? I can’t lose you Bertl, I can’t. You mean the entire world to me,” Reiner confessed, leaning his head against Bertholdt’s chest as he fought to keep his tears back. He couldn’t cry, he had to be strong for Bertholdt, he had to be the strong one.

“Oh Reiner, I’m not leaving you behind we still have many years left together. I refuse to die on you, not when we still need to go home, but more importantly, we still have to get married. I’m not leaving this world until I’m Bertholdt Braun,” Bertholdt said, he wished he could move or even heal so he could show Reiner just how much his fiancé meant to him but for now he could only tell him, “I love you, Reiner, I love you with my whole heart, I can’t lose you either. You mean too much to me,”.

“I love you too Bertholdt, I love you so much,” Reiner said leaning up to press a passionate kiss to Bertholdt’s lips pouring all the love he felt for Bertholdt into this one kiss, he needed to feel him against his lips, against his hands. He needed Bertholdt to understand just what he meant to him from this day forward to the next because this man meant more to him than anything on this cruel planet anything at all.


End file.
